With the same humor and humanity he exuded in "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore spells out 15 ways that individuals can address climate change immediately, from buying a hybrid to inventing a new, hotter brand name for global warming.

New York Times columnist David Pogue takes aim at technology's worst interface-design offenders, and provides encouraging examples of products that get it right. To funny things up, he bursts into song.

In an emotionally charged talk, MacArthur-winning activist Majora Carter details her fight for environmental justice in the South Bronx -- and shows how minority neighborhoods suffer most from flawed urban policy.

Architect Joshua Prince-Ramus takes the audience on dazzling, dizzying virtual tours of three recent projects: the Central Library in Seattle, the Museum Plaza in Louisville and the Charles Wyly Theater in Dallas.

TED2006

0:19:58

en

7/10/06

library,architecture,design,culture,collaboration

9

86

https://www.ted.com/talks/julia_sweeney_on_letting_go_of_god

Julia Sweeney

Letting go of God

When two young Mormon missionaries knock on Julia Sweeney's door one day, it touches off a quest to completely rethink her own beliefs, in this excerpt from Sweeney's solo show "Letting Go of God."

Pastor Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose-Driven Life," reflects on his own crisis of purpose in the wake of his book's wild success. He explains his belief that God's intention is for each of us to use our talents and influence to do good.

Philosopher Dan Dennett calls for religion -- all religion -- to be taught in schools, so we can understand its nature as a natural phenomenon. Then he takes on The Purpose-Driven Life, disputing its claim that, to be moral, one must deny evolution.

Accepting his 2006 TED Prize, Cameron Sinclair demonstrates how passionate designers and architects can respond to world housing crises. He unveils his TED Prize wish for a network to improve global living standards through collaborative design.

Fumes from indoor cooking fires kill more than 2 million children a year in the developing world. MIT engineer Amy Smith details an exciting but simple solution: a tool for turning farm waste into clean-burning charcoal.

The founding mother of the blog revolution, Movable Type's Mena Trott, talks about the early days of blogging, when she realized that giving regular people the power to share our lives online is the key to building a friendlier, more connected world.

Eve Ensler, creator of "The Vagina Monologues," shares how a discussion about menopause with her friends led to talking about all sorts of sexual acts onstage, waging a global campaign to end violence toward women and finding her own happiness.

Anthropologist Helen Fisher takes on a tricky topic -- love -- and explains its evolution, its biochemical foundations and its social importance. She closes with a warning about the potential disaster inherent in antidepressant abuse.

Legendary scientist David Deutsch puts theoretical physics on the back burner to discuss a more urgent matter: the survival of our species. The first step toward solving global warming, he says, is to admit that we have a problem.

"Freakonomics" author Steven Levitt presents new data on the finances of drug dealing. Contrary to popular myth, he says, being a street-corner crack dealer isn't lucrative: It pays below minimum wage. And your boss can kill you.

TED2004

0:21:15

en

9/19/06

narcotics,cities,economics,culture,business,race

31

97

https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy

Dan Gilbert

The surprising science of happiness

Dan Gilbert, author of "Stumbling on Happiness," challenges the idea that we'll be miserable if we don't get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things don't go as planned.

TED2004

0:21:16

en

9/26/06

evolution,choice,happiness,psychology,brain,science,culture

32

93

https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice

Barry Schwartz

The paradox of choice

Psychologist Barry Schwartz takes aim at a central tenet of western societies: freedom of choice. In Schwartz's estimation, choice has made us not freer but more paralyzed, not happier but more dissatisfied.

Iqbal Quadir tells how his experiences as a kid in poor Bangladesh, and later as a banker in New York, led him to start a mobile phone operator connecting 80 million rural Bangladeshi -- and to become a champion of bottom-up development.

Ashraf Ghani's passionate and powerful 10-minute talk, emphasizing the necessity of both economic investment and design ingenuity to rebuild broken states, is followed by a conversation with TED curator Chris Anderson on the future of Afghanistan.

A free press -- papers, magazines, radio, TV, blogs -- is the backbone of any true democracy (and a vital watchdog on business). Sasa Vucinic, a journalist from Belgrade, talks about his new fund, which supports media by selling "free press bonds."

Accepting his 2005 TED Prize, photographer Edward Burtynsky makes a wish: that his images -- stunning landscapes that document humanity's impact on the world -- help persuade millions to join a global conversation on sustainability.

Oxford mathematician Peter Donnelly reveals the common mistakes humans make in interpreting statistics -- and the devastating impact these errors can have on the outcome of criminal trials.

TEDGlobal 2005

0:21:20

en

11/8/06

statistics,science,genetics,culture,technology

45

22

https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_shermer_on_believing_strange_things

Michael Shermer

Why people believe weird things

Why do people see the Virgin Mary on a cheese sandwich or hear demonic lyrics in "Stairway to Heaven"? Using video and music, skeptic Michael Shermer shows how we convince ourselves to believe -- and overlook the facts.

TED2006

0:13:25

en

11/8/06

entertainment,illusion,faith,religion,science,culture

46

19

https://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_kelly_on_how_technology_evolves

Kevin Kelly

How technology evolves

Tech enthusiast Kevin Kelly asks "What does technology want?" and discovers that its movement toward ubiquity and complexity is much like the evolution of life.

Inventor, entrepreneur and visionary Ray Kurzweil explains in abundant, grounded detail why, by the 2020s, we will have reverse-engineered the human brain and nanobots will be operating your consciousness.

TED2005

0:22:56

en

11/14/06

biotech,robots,science,invention,culture,business,technology,future

48

23

https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_gabriel_fights_injustice_with_video

Peter Gabriel

Fight injustice with raw video

Musician and activist Peter Gabriel shares his very personal motivation for standing up for human rights with the watchdog group WITNESS -- and tells stories of citizen journalists in action.

Why do people succeed? Is it because they're smart? Or are they just lucky? Neither. Analyst Richard St. John condenses years of interviews into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success.

Robert Neuwirth, author of "Shadow Cities," finds the world's squatter sites -- where a billion people now make their homes -- to be thriving centers of ingenuity and innovation. He takes us on a tour.

With stunning photos and stories, National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the world's indigenous cultures, which are disappearing from the planet at an alarming rate.

Photographer Phil Borges shows rarely seen images of people from the mountains of Dharamsala, India, and the jungles of the Ecuadorean Amazon. In documenting these endangered cultures, he intends to help preserve them.

Speaking as both an astronomer and "a concerned member of the human race," Sir Martin Rees examines our planet and its future from a cosmic perspective. He urges action to prevent dark consequences from our scientific and technological development.

Author Robert Wright explains "non-zero-sumness" -- the network of linked fortunes and cooperation that has guided our evolution to this point -- and how we can use it to help save humanity today.

TED2006

0:19:11

en

1/17/07

evolutionary psychology,war,global issues,culture,collaboration

58

63

https://www.ted.com/talks/charles_leadbeater_on_innovation

Charles Leadbeater

The era of open innovation

In this deceptively casual talk, Charles Leadbeater weaves a tight argument that innovation isn't just for professionals anymore. Passionate amateurs, using new tools, are creating products and paradigms that companies can't.

Two Pilobolus dancers perform "Symbiosis." Does it trace the birth of a relationship? Or the co-evolution of symbiotic species? Music: "God Music," George Crumb; "Fratres," Arvo Part; "Morango...Almost a Tango," Thomas Oboe Lee.

TED2005

0:13:45

en

2/9/07

entertainment,science and art,nature,science,dance,performance

61

60

https://www.ted.com/talks/anna_deavere_smith_s_american_character

Anna Deavere Smith

Four American characters

Writer and actor Anna Deavere Smith gives life to author Studs Terkel, convict Paulette Jenkins, a Korean shopkeeper and a bull rider, excerpts from her solo show "On the Road: A Search for American Character."

Journalist Carl Honore believes the Western world's emphasis on speed erodes health, productivity and quality of life. But there's a backlash brewing, as everyday people start putting the brakes on their all-too-modern lives.

As E.O. Wilson accepts his 2007 TED Prize, he makes a plea on behalf of all creatures that we learn more about our biosphere -- and build a networked encyclopedia of all the world's knowledge about life.

Accepting his 2007 TED Prize, war photographer James Nachtwey shows his life's work and asks TED to help him continue telling the story with innovative, exciting uses of news photography in the digital era.

American designer Chris Bangle explains his philosophy that car design is an art form in its own right, with an entertaining -- and ultimately moving -- account of the BMW Group's Deep Blue project, intended to create the SUV of the future.

Jane Goodall hasn't found the missing link, but she's come closer than nearly anyone else. The primatologist says the only real difference between humans and chimps is our sophisticated language. She urges us to start using it to change the world.

In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to just ignore the ordinary stuff. Marketing guru Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones.

TED2003

0:17:01

en

4/5/07

marketing,choice,storytelling,culture,business

72

32

https://www.ted.com/talks/vik_muniz_makes_art_with_wire_sugar

Vik Muniz

Art with wire, sugar, chocolate and string

Vik Muniz makes art from pretty much anything, be it shredded paper, wire, clouds or diamonds. Here he describes the thinking behind his work and takes us on a tour of his incredible images.

TED2003

0:14:51

en

4/5/07

animation,Brazil,illusion,art,design,creativity

73

80

https://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_on_genomics_and_our_future

Juan Enriquez

The life code that will reshape the future

Scientific discoveries, futurist Juan Enriquez notes, demand a shift in code, and our ability to thrive depends on our mastery of that code. Here, he applies this notion to the field of genomics.

TED2003

0:22:20

en

4/5/07

DNA,biotech,science,invention,genetics,culture,business,technology

74

14

https://www.ted.com/talks/golan_levin_on_software_as_art

Golan Levin

Software (as) art

Engineer and artist Golan Levin pushes the boundaries of what's possible with audiovisuals and technology. In an amazing TED display, he shows two programs he wrote to perform his original compositions.

TED2004

0:14:53

en

4/5/07

entertainment,software,art,invention,technology,music,performance

75

50

https://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_shares_happy_design

Stefan Sagmeister

Happiness by design

Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister takes the audience on a whimsical journey through moments of his life that made him happy -- and notes how many of these moments have to do with good design.

TED2004

0:15:30

en

4/5/07

typography,happiness,art,design

76

76

https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_savage_rumbaugh_on_apes_that_write

Susan Savage-Rumbaugh

The gentle genius of bonobos

Savage-Rumbaugh's work with bonobo apes, which can understand spoken language and learn tasks by watching, forces the audience to rethink how much of what a species can do is determined by biology -- and how much by cultural exposure.

TED2004

0:17:25

en

4/5/07

apes,evolution,language,animals,intelligence,biology,genetics,culture

77

77

https://www.ted.com/talks/sheila_patek_clocks_the_fastest_animals

Sheila Patek

The shrimp with a kick!

Biologist Sheila Patek talks about her work measuring the feeding strike of the mantis shrimp, one of the fastest movements in the animal world, using video cameras recording at 20,000 frames per second.

TED2004

0:16:25

en

4/5/07

biomechanics,online video,oceans,biology,science,technology

78

78

https://www.ted.com/talks/al_seckel_says_our_brains_are_mis_wired

Al Seckel

Visual illusions that show how we (mis)think

Al Seckel, a cognitive neuroscientist, explores the perceptual illusions that fool our brains. Loads of eye tricks help him prove that not only are we easily fooled, we kind of like it.

TED2004

0:14:33

en

4/5/07

illusion,psychology,design,cognitive science,brain,culture

79

18

https://www.ted.com/talks/janine_benyus_shares_nature_s_designs

Janine Benyus

Biomimicry's surprising lessons from nature's engineers

In this inspiring talk about recent developments in biomimicry, Janine Benyus provides heartening examples of ways in which nature is already influencing the products and systems we build.

In this stunning slideshow, celebrated nature photographer Frans Lanting presents The LIFE Project, a poetic collection of photographs that tell the story of our planet, from its eruptive beginnings to its present diversity. Soundtrack by Philip Glass.

Showing a series of inspiring, unusual and playful products, British branding and design guru Paul Bennett explains that design doesn't have to be about grand gestures, but can solve small, universal and overlooked problems.

TEDGlobal 2005

0:14:10

en

4/5/07

industrial design,design,product design,business

85

44

https://www.ted.com/talks/nick_bostrom_on_our_biggest_problems

Nick Bostrom

A philosophical quest for our biggest problems

Oxford philosopher and transhumanist Nick Bostrom examines the future of humankind and asks whether we might alter the fundamental nature of humanity to solve our most intrinsic problems.

In this soaring demonstration, deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie illustrates how listening to music involves much more than simply letting sound waves hit your eardrums.

TED2003

0:32:09

en

4/6/07

entertainment,live music,creativity,music,performance

90

101

https://www.ted.com/talks/caroline_lavelle_casts_a_spell_on_cello

Caroline Lavelle

Casting a spell on the cello

Caroline Lavelle plays the cello like a sorceress casting a spell, occasionally hiding behind her wild mane of blond hair as she sings of pastoral themes. She performs "Farther than the Sun," backed by Thomas Dolby on keyboards.

Singer/songwriter Eddi Reader performs "Kiteflyer's Hill," a tender look back at a lost love. With Thomas Dolby on piano.

TED2003

0:06:18

en

4/14/07

composing,entertainment,memory,piano,music,performance,guitar

97

113

https://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism

Richard Dawkins

Militant atheism

Richard Dawkins urges all atheists to openly state their position -- and to fight the incursion of the church into politics and science. A fiery, funny, powerful talk.

TED2002

0:29:10

en

4/16/07

atheism,religion,God,science,culture

98

115

https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_dolby_and_rachelle_garniez

Rachelle Garniez

"La Vie en Rose"

Featuring the vocals and mischievous bell-playing of accordionist and singer Rachelle Garniez, the TED House Band -- led by Thomas Dolby on keyboard -- delivers this delightful rendition of the Edith Piaf standard "La Vie en Rose."

TED2004

0:03:21

en

4/16/07

entertainment,live music,music,performance

99

112

https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_honey_on_god_and_the_tsunami

Tom Honey

Why would God create a tsunami?

In the days following the tragic South Asian tsunami of 2004, the Rev. Tom Honey pondered the question, "How could a loving God have done this?" Here is his answer.

Satirist Tom Rielly delivers a wicked parody of the 2006 TED conference, taking down the $100 laptop, the plight of the polar bear, and people who mention, one too many times, that they work at Harvard. Watch for a special moment between Tom and Al Gore.

TED2006

0:19:55

en

4/16/07

comedy,humor,culture,performance

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